Certain refrigerator appliances include an ice maker. To produce ice, liquid water is directed to the ice maker and frozen. A variety of ice types can be produced depending upon the particular ice maker used. For example, certain ice makers include a mold body for receiving liquid water. An auger within the mold body can rotate and scrape ice off an inner surface of the mold body to form ice nuggets. Such ice makers are generally referred to as nugget style ice makers. Certain consumers prefer nugget style ice makers and their associated ice nuggets.
Nugget style ice makers can be operated to maximize an ice making rate of the ice maker. However, various conditions can negatively affect operation of nugget style ice makers. For example, ice within the mold body can jam the auger or otherwise prevent rotation of the auger within the mold body, and such jamming can damage a motor of the nugget style ice maker. To prevent or fix such jamming, a heater on the mold body can be activated to melt ice therein. However, activating the heater can prevent or hinder ice formation, and liquid water within the mold body that is in a super-cooled state can cause the heater to activate despite the auger continuing to operate properly.
Accordingly, a method for operating an ice maker that assists with preventing damage to a motor of the ice maker would be useful. Further, a method for operating an ice maker that assists with detecting super-cooled liquid water within a mold body of the ice maker would be useful.